Scroll through a US airport departures board and it's all 737s and A320s. But dig into airline fleet lists and a handful of genuinely uncommon twin-engine types are still carrying passengers — some on their way out, one brand new. Here's what's left in 2026, from the biggest fleet to the rarest.
The Boeing 717 tops the list with roughly 99 jets split between Delta (about 80) and Hawaiian Airlines (around 19 on interisland hops). Both are winding down: Delta ended 717 service from Minneapolis in May 2026 and is retiring jets as they hit heavy maintenance checks, while Hawaiian starts swapping in 737-800s from 2028. If you want to fly the last of the DC-9 family, the window is closing.
Next comes a surprise: the Airbus A320neo. It's everywhere globally, but since Spirit Airlines shut down on May 2, 2026, Frontier is the only US airline flying the standard version — 72 of them as of June 30. Even so, Frontier is trimming: 24 leases ended early in March, 13 more returned to lessor Carlyle in August, and the carrier is leaning harder on the larger A321neo.
Tied at 37 aircraft each are the Boeing 757-300 and 767-400ER, now flown exclusively by Delta and United worldwide. United holds the bigger share of the stretched 757-300 (21 to Delta's 16), sending them from hubs like Atlanta, Chicago O'Hare and Denver to seat-heavy leisure spots such as Orlando and Las Vegas. The 767-400ER — of which Boeing built just 38 — splits 21 for Delta and 16 for United, working transatlantic routes including London Heathrow from Newark and Washington Dulles, plus busy Honolulu flying. United plans to retire its whole 767 fleet by 2030, so this one has a deadline.
The newcomer is the Boeing 737 MAX 8-200, the high-density layout Ryanair made famous. Allegiant Air took the first US delivery in September 2024 and remains the sole American operator, with 16 jets in early 2026 and nine more due by year-end. Each seats 190 in one cabin, including 21 roomier 'Allegiant Extra' seats. A proposed purchase of Sun Country could push Allegiant's shift from all-Airbus to mostly Boeing even further.
Rarest of all is the plain Boeing 737-900 — just 12 airframes, all with United, each configured with 179 seats. Alaska retired its examples in 2025, leaving United as the only operator. The catch: it looks nearly identical to the far more common 737-900ER, so check your booking's aircraft type and seat count if you want to tick it off.
For aviation-minded travellers, this is a working bucket list. Book a Denver–Orlando flight and you might get the stretched 757; a Newark–London or Honolulu route could put you on a 767-400ER before United's 2030 deadline. None of these jets will be around forever, and a couple are already in their final years.
